2. Music
3. Pesto
The combination of fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and romano cheese and olive oil, when done right, makes be believe that this combination of flavors must have been made in heaven.
Here's the best recipe I've found. Very simple but also very classic. As always, the amounts can vary depending on your individual taste but this is the basic. Tonight I made a slight variation that resulted in the best pesto EVER. I had more than 2 cups of basil so I multiplied everything by 1.5. Also, I roasted the pine nuts for a few minutes until they were slightly brown. Most importantly, I used fresh garlic, which isn't as strong as dried garlic. It looks like green onions but with a head of garlic at the end. I chopped up two full heads, along with stems (called "scapes") and threw the whole thing in the food processor. Like I said...best pesto ever.
"From the Julia Child of Italian Cooking, this is Marcella Hazan's recipe for pesto. Its the first I've ever tasted and the only one I'll ever use. I've tried other recipes and nothing surpasses this, especially not any you'll get from a restaurant. Quality ingredients are important in simple recipes like this. The aromas in pesto's ingredients are subtle and its flavor varies depending on the brand and quality of the ingredients you choose. Make sure to find the best olive oil, the freshest basil (if it doesn't smell right or fragrant, don't bother using it, it will be a waste of expensive ingredients.) The cheeses mentioned should be sought and used. Use a high quality butter if possible."
It's really FUCKING EASY, if your have a food processor. So try it!!
Not quite as easy if you have to use a mortar and pestle.
Put it on pasta, fish, bread, what the fucking ever. Drink red wine when you eat it, for sure. This is the fucking bomb.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting in the processor
salt
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated ( parrmigiano-reggiano)
2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated ( or pecorino fiore sardo)
3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
Directions
Briefly soak and wash the basil in cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly DRY with paper towels.
Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency.
Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the two grated cheeses by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces.
When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients, mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce.
When spooning the pesto over pasta, dilute it slightly with a tablespoon or two of the hot water in which the pasta was cooked.
Freezing pesto: Make the sauce through to the end of Step 2, cover with a layer of olive oil and freeze it without cheese and butter in it. Add the cheese and butter when it is thawed, just before serving.
BTW, pine nuts are a bit pricey in these parts and I prefer investing my hard-earned in good parmesan. Pistachios, I've found, actually make a pretty deece substitute, fwiw. Happy eating, Mikey!
